Digital cooperation

Anthropic strengthens European growth through Paris and Munich offices

AI firm Anthropic is expanding its European presence by opening new offices in Paris and Munich, strengthening its footprint alongside existing hubs in London, Dublin, and Zurich.

An expansion that follows rapid growth across the EMEA region, where the company has tripled its workforce and seen a ninefold increase in annual run-rate revenue.

The move comes as European businesses increasingly rely on Claude for critical enterprise tasks. Companies such as L’Oréal, BMW, SAP, and Sanofi are using the AI model to enhance software, improve workflows, and ensure operational reliability.

Germany and France, both among the top 20 countries in Claude usage per capita, are now at the centre to Anthropic’s strategic expansion.

Anthropic is also strengthening its leadership team across Europe. Guillaume Princen will oversee startups and digital-native businesses, while Pip White and Thomas Remy will lead the northern and southern EMEA regions, respectively.

A new head will soon be announced for Central and Eastern Europe, reflecting the company’s growing regional reach.

Beyond commercial goals, Anthropic is partnering with European institutions to promote AI education and culture. It collaborates with the Light Art Space in Berlin, supports student hackathons through TUM.ai, and works with the French organisation Unaite to advance developer training.

These partnerships reinforce Anthropic’s long-term commitment to responsible AI growth across the continent.

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A €358 million EU investment strengthens the clean energy transition

The EU has announced more than €358 million in new funding for 132 environmental and climate projects under the LIFE Programme.

The investment covers over half of the total €536 million required, with the remainder coming from national and local governments, private partners and civil society.

A project that will advance the transition of the EU to a clean, circular and climate-resilient economy while supporting biodiversity, competitiveness and long-term climate neutrality.

Funding includes €147 million for nature and biodiversity, €76 million for circular economy initiatives, €58 million for climate resilience and €77 million for clean energy transition projects.

Examples include habitat restoration in Sweden and Poland, sustainable farming in France, and renewable energy training in France’s new LIFE SUNACADEMY. Other projects will tackle pollution, restore peatlands, and modernise energy systems across Europe, from rural communities to remote islands.

Since its launch in 1992, the LIFE Programme has co-financed over 6,500 projects that support environmental innovation and sustainability.

The current programme runs until 2027 with a total budget of €5.43 billion, managed by the European Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA).

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Suleyman sets limits for safer superintelligence at Microsoft

Microsoft AI says its work toward superintelligence will be explicitly ‘humanist’, designed to keep people at the top of the food chain. In a new blog post, Microsoft AI head Mustafa Suleyman announced a team focused on building systems that are subordinate, controllable, and designed to serve human interests.

Suleyman says superintelligence should not be unbounded. Models will be calibrated, contextualised, and limited to align with human goals. He joined Microsoft last year as its AI CEO, which has begun rolling out its first in-house models for text, voice, and images.

The move lands amid intensifying competition in advanced AI. Under a revised agreement with OpenAI, Microsoft can now independently pursue AGI or partner elsewhere. Suleyman says Microsoft AI will reject race narratives while acknowledging the need to advance capability and governance together.

Microsoft’s initial use cases emphasise an AI companion to help people learn, act, and feel supported; healthcare assistance to augment clinicians; and tools for scientific discovery in areas such as clean energy. The intent is to combine productivity gains with stronger safety controls from the outset.

‘Humans matter more than AI,’ Suleyman writes, casting ‘humanist superintelligence’ as technology that stays on humanity’s team. He frames the programme as a guard against Pandora’s box risks by binding robust systems to explicit constraints, oversight, and application contexts.

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Meta launches AI app in Europe with new Vibes video feed

Meta has launched its new AI app across Europe, featuring Vibes, an interactive feed dedicated to creating and sharing short AI-generated videos. The platform brings together media generation, remixing and collaboration tools designed to encourage creativity and social expression.

Vibes first debuted in the US, where Meta reported a tenfold rise in AI media creation since launch. European users can now use text prompts to generate, edit and animate videos, or remix existing clips by adding music, visuals and personalised styles.

The app also serves as a central hub for users’ Meta AI assistants and connected AI glasses. People can chat with the assistant, receive creative ideas, or enhance their photos and animations using advanced AI-powered editing tools integrated within the same experience.

Meta said the rollout marks a new stage in its effort to make AI-driven creativity more accessible. The company plans to expand the app’s capabilities further, promising additional features that combine entertainment, collaboration and real-time content generation.

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ACCC lawsuit triggers Microsoft’s rethink and apology on Copilot subscription communications

Microsoft apologised after Australia’s regulator said it steered Microsoft 365 users to pricier Copilot plans while downplaying cheaper Classic tiers. The move follows APAC price-rise emails and confusion over Personal and Family increases.

ACCC officials said communications may have denied customers informed choices by omitting equivalent non-AI plans. Microsoft acknowledged it could have been clearer and accepted that Classic alternatives might have saved some subscribers money under the October 2024 changes.

Redmond is offering affected customers refunds for the difference between Copilot and Classic tiers and has begun contacting subscribers in Australia and New Zealand. The company also re-sent its apology email after discovering a broken link to the Classic plans page.

Questions remain over whether similar remediation will extend to Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand, which also saw price hikes earlier this year. Consumer groups are watching for consistent remedies and plain-English disclosures across all impacted markets.

Regulators have sharpened scrutiny of dark patterns, bundling, and AI-linked upsells as digital subscriptions proliferate. Clear side-by-side plan comparisons and functional disclosures about AI features are likely to become baseline expectations for compliance and customer trust.

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UNESCO launches Beruniy Prize to promote ethical AI innovation

UNESCO and the Uzbekistan Arts and Culture Development Foundation have introduced the UNESCO–Uzbekistan Beruniy Prize for Scientific Research on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.

The award, presented at the 43rd General Conference in Samarkand, recognises global leaders whose research and policy efforts promote responsible and human-centred AI innovation. Each laureate received $30,000, a Beruniy medal, and a certificate.

Professor Virgilio Almeida was honoured for advancing ethical, inclusive AI and democratic digital governance. Human rights expert Susan Perry and computer scientist Claudia Roda were recognised for promoting youth-centred AI ethics that protect privacy, inclusion, and fairness.

The Institute for AI International Governance at Tsinghua University in China also received the award for promoting international cooperation and responsible AI policy.

UNESCO’s Audrey Azoulay and Gayane Uemerova emphasised that ethics should guide technology to serve humanity, not restrict it. Laureates echoed the need for shared moral responsibility and global cooperation in shaping AI’s future.

The new Beruniy Prize reaffirms that ethics form the cornerstone of progress. By celebrating innovation grounded in empathy, inclusivity, and accountability, UNESCO aims to ensure AI remains a force for peace, justice, and sustainable development.

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How Google uses AI to support teachers and inspire students

Google is redefining education with AI designed to enhance learning, rather than replace teachers. The company has unveiled new tools grounded in learning science to support both educators and students, aiming to make learning more effective, efficient and engaging.

Through its Gemini platform, users can follow guided learning paths that encourage discovery rather than passive answers.

YouTube and Search now include conversational features that allow students to ask questions as they learn, while NotebookLM can transform personal materials into quizzes or immersive study aids.

Instructors can also utilise Google Classroom’s free AI tools for lesson planning and administrative support, thereby freeing up time for direct student engagement.

Google emphasises that its goal is to preserve the human essence of education while using AI to expand understanding. The company also addresses challenges linked to AI in learning, such as cheating, fairness, accuracy and critical thinking.

It is exploring assessment models that cannot be easily replicated by AI, including debates, projects, and oral examinations.

The firm pledges to develop its tools responsibly by collaborating with educators, parents and policymakers. By combining the art of teaching with the science of AI-driven learning, Google seeks to make education more personal, equitable and inspiring for all.

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OpenAI outlines roadmap for AI safety, accountability and global cooperation

New recommendations have been published by OpenAI for managing rapid advances in AI, stressing the need for shared safety standards, public accountability, and resilience frameworks.

The company warned that while AI systems are increasingly capable of solving complex problems and accelerating discovery, they also pose significant risks that must be addressed collaboratively.

According to OpenAI, the next few years could bring systems capable of discoveries once thought centuries away.

The firm expects AI to transform health, materials science, drug development and education, while acknowledging that economic transitions may be disruptive and could require a rethinking of social contracts.

To ensure safe development, OpenAI proposed shared safety principles among frontier labs, new public oversight mechanisms proportional to AI capabilities, and the creation of a resilience ecosystem similar to cybersecurity.

It also called for regular reporting on AI’s societal impact to guide evidence-based policymaking.

OpenAI reiterated that the goal should be to empower individuals by making advanced AI broadly accessible, within limits defined by society, and to treat access to AI as a foundational public utility in the years ahead.

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Spain receives EU approval for €700 million cleantech manufacturing scheme

The European Commission has approved a €700 million Spanish plan to expand clean technology manufacturing capacity in line with the Clean Industrial Deal. The measure supports strategic investments that will boost Spain’s role in the EU’s transition towards a net-zero economy.

A scheme that provides direct grants for projects that add production capacity in net-zero technologies and their key components.

Open to companies across Spain until 2028, the initiative aims to strengthen competitiveness and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels while advancing renewable energy, hydrogen, and decarbonisation technologies.

Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera stated that the plan will enhance sustainability and industrial growth while maintaining fair market conditions.

An approval that follows the Clean Industrial Deal State Aid Framework, which enables member states to accelerate the rollout of clean technologies and manufacturing across the EU.

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LIBE backs new Europol Regulation despite data protection and discrimination warnings

The European Parliament’s civil liberties committee (LIBE) voted to endorse a new Europol Regulation, part of the ‘Facilitators Package’, by 59–10 with four abstentions.

Rights groups and the European Data Protection Supervisor had urged MEPs to reject the proposal, arguing the law fuels discrimination and grants Europol and Frontex unprecedented surveillance capabilities with insufficient oversight.

If approved in plenary later this month, the reform would grant Europol broader powers to collect, process and share data, including biometrics such as facial recognition, and enable exchanges with non-EU states.

Campaigners note the proposal advanced without an impact assessment, contrary to the Commission’s Better Regulation guidance.

Civil society groups warn that the changes risk normalising surveillance in migration management. Access Now’s Caterina Rodelli said MEPs had ‘greenlighted the European Commission’s long-term plan to turn Europe into a digital police state’. At the same time, Equinox’s Sarah Chander called the vote proof the EU has ‘abandoned’ humane, evidence-based policy.

EDRi’s Chloé Berthélémy said the reform legitimises ‘unaccountable and opaque data practices’, creating a ‘data black hole’ that undermines rights and the rule of law. More than 120 organisations called on MEPs to reject the text, arguing it is ‘unlawful, unsafe, and unsubstantiated’.

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